we´re used to having everything done for us. picking, washing, cutting, trimming, mixing, heating, cooling, pressure cooking, fermentating. this way you get used to having things "ready". nothing to do but eat.i was doing that on friday night, eating olives. and one of them had it´s stem still on. i must admit it was the first time i´d seen the stem still hanging on to one. it surprised me. and it also said, hey, i´m real, i was on a tree. olives usually aren´t fresh, they´re always soaked in a vinegary juice for conservation. but that´s what a stem said to me, i´m something fresh.we all know how important the perception of freshness is, it´s key in the kitchen, it´s every TV cooking guy´s word of the month.so from now on i will treasure stems more than i used to. any fruit, vegy, juice or person with stems is something fresh to me.